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Weeks sixth as Brewers shuffle lineup

Weeks sixth as Brewers shuffle lineup

MILWAUKEE -- Ron Roenicke has shown extreme patience with his slumping second baseman, but decided on Friday that it was time for some changes.

Roenicke dropped Rickie Weeks to sixth in the batting order for Friday's Interleague opener against the Twins, a move the manager had previously resisted, based on conversations with the player.

But after going 1-for-5 against the Astros on Thursday night, Weeks had two hits in his last 32 at-bats, a National League-worst .156 batting average and an NL-worst 49 strikeouts.

"I think it was the right time to do it," Roenicke said.

Right fielder Corey Hart moved up from the fifth to leadoff -- a spot he has handled with success in the past -- and center fielder Norichika Aoki batted second. Weeks had hit in both of those spots this season, after expressing a desire to bat near the top of the order.

Ryan Braun and Aramis Ramirez were in there usual spots, hitting third and fourth. Red-hot catcher Jonathan Lucroy hit fifth for the first day in his career, followed by Weeks.

"You have to work your way through," Weeks said. "You can't just sit there and pout about it."

Weeks said he understood the thinking behind Friday's shuffle.

"You have to start something with a team that's scuffling a little bit," Weeks said. "We just have to go out there and try to shake some things up. These are things you have to deal with, and get through this. ... You have to go back to the basics.

"There are some things I couldn't really control, where I was trying to overcompensate for some things. The biggest thing is, try to go back to the basics and go from there. That's what I'm doing."

Weeks declined to talk about his conversation with Roenicke before Friday's lineup was posted. Roenicke said it was positive, calling Weeks "a team player."

"Even though he's got a lot of pride and he knows he's going to hit, he was OK with being moved," Roenicke said. "I don't like to [move players in the lineup] a lot. But once guys start hitting like they should, we'll see where everybody slots in that makes the most sense."

The Brewers were 16-22 going into Friday's game. They ranked ninth out of 16 National League teams in runs scored, thanks in large part to 42 home runs, second-most in the league. But the Brewers were 11th in on-base percentage and 14th in batting average.